“I hope you’ve been well,” Eggers said. “And Ethel, too.”
“Yes, we’re both well, Bill. And, Stone, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve been following with interest your progress with the new hotel in Bel-Air.”
Stone’s son had inherited from his mother an eighteen-acre property in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, and Stone was a lead investor in the project to build a new, ultra-luxury-class hotel there.
“Thank you, Marshall, it seems to be going well. We broke ground last fall, and the old Vance Calder house is being turned into the reception area, with an addition for offices. Construction has begun on the cottages and rooms, too.”
“What’s your grand opening date?” Brennan asked.
“Probably early next year. I don’t think we can make Christmas, unless things go faster than planned.”
“My people have had a lot of experience in hotels, so let me know if I can be of any help.”
“Thank you, Marshall, that’s kind of you.”
They ordered lunch, then Eggers sat back in his chair. “Stone, Marshall’s youngest son, Dink, has gotten himself into a bit of a mess.”
“Oh?” Stone couldn’t wait to hear this.
“He’s at Yale-in Peter’s class-and he has acquired a bit of a gambling problem.”
“How much of a problem?” Stone asked.
“About two hundred thousand dollars’ worth,” Brennan interjected, “to a bookie and loan shark.”
“Is he able to pay it?” Stone asked.
“Of course not,” Brennan replied, “but the bookie knows I can pay it.”
“Do you intend to pay it?” Stone asked.
“That depends a lot on the advice I get from you. Bill tells me you’ve dealt with people like this in the past.”
“I was a police officer for fourteen years,” Stone replied. “I dealt with all sorts of people, some of whom were unable or unwilling to pay their gambling and loan debts.”
“What happened to those who couldn’t or wouldn’t pay?”
“Unpleasant things,” Stone said. “I’ve rarely known a bookie or a loan shark to kill people, because the dead can’t pay their debts, but quite often such people required medical attention after negotiations failed.”
“So, these things are negotiable?”
“Only when the lender is convinced that the borrower can’t pay it all. In your case, as you say, he already knows that you’re Dink’s father.”
“That’s what I’ve been told.”
“Then I should think that the bookie/lender has every intention of collecting every penny, and the total goes up daily, at the rate of about ten percent a week, so time is of the essence.”
“Can I have him arrested?”
“Such activities are certainly against the law, but I don’t think you want to get into a legal wrangle with a criminal. First of all, such action would not necessarily protect your son or even you from retribution, and second, there might be an unwanted level of public attention brought to bear on everyone involved. The tabloids would love the story.”
“So I should pay up and end it?”
“Paying up is probably necessary, but that might not end it.”
Brennan looked alarmed. “Why not?”
“Because paying the money won’t deal with your son’s gambling problem. Indeed, if you get him off the hook this time, he might take that to mean that you always will. And the paid-off bookie will certainly be willing to extend him more credit.”
“So how do I fix this?”
“Marshall, may I ask, what is your relationship like with your son, apart from the gambling?”
“Sometimes good, sometimes bad,” Brennan said.
“Good when he gets what he wants, bad when he doesn’t?”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“Then I can only tell you what I would do if it were my son.”
“And what is that?”
“How old is he?”
“Twenty.”
“That precludes an involuntary commitment to an institution.”
“Yes, it does. I thought of that.”
“Does he have means of his own?”
“No.”
“Then I would sit him down and force him to close his bank and credit card accounts and destroy his credit cards. I would leave him no option but to leave Yale and voluntarily enter an intense, residential treatment program, and by ‘residential’ I mean a place with a high fence around it and bars on the windows.”
“And what if he refuses to cooperate?”
“Then leave him to the tender mercies of his bookie. After a couple of large men have beaten him to a pulp, he may take a different view of things.”
To Stone’s discomfort, Marshall Brennan began to cry.
Eggers comforted him while Stone waited quietly for him to continue.
Finally, Brennan was able to speak. “I don’t think I can confront my son in that fashion.”
“Then have someone else confront him.”
“Do you have someone in mind?” Eggers asked, obviously hoping that Stone would volunteer.
“I think Herbert Fisher would be well suited to the task,” Stone replied.
“Who is Herbert Fisher?” Brennan asked.
“He’s a young attorney with Woodman and Weld,” Stone replied. “He has a history of such problems in his own past, from which he has recovered.”
“He’s one of the firm’s outstanding associates,” Eggers added.
Brennan took a deep breath and let it out. “All right,” he said. “Do it.”
“Do what?” Stone asked.
“Exactly what you just said. Have your young man deal with it: pay the bookie, recommend a treatment facility, and confront Dink.”
Stone took a jotter and a pen from his pocket and handed them to Brennan. “His full name, address at Yale, cell and phone numbers. And a list of his bank accounts and credit cards. And the name of the bookie/loan shark.”
Brennan wrote it all down. “There’s a briefcase under the table with two hundred thousand dollars in it.” He handed Stone a business card. “Call me on the cell number if you need any further information.” Then Marshall Brennan got up and left.
Eggers produced a cell phone and pressed a button. “Herbert Fisher, please. It’s Eggers. Hello, Herbie? You’re invited to lunch downstairs, my table, now.” He closed the phone. “Do you need me here for this?”
“Yes,” Stone said. “I want Herbie to know this comes from you, and anyway, you haven’t eaten yet.”
4
Herbie Fisher arrived just as his lunch did. “Good afternoon, gentlemen,” he said as he sat down.
“We ordered for you,” Eggers said.
Stone reflected that Herbie dressed better these days than many of the partners at Woodman amp; Weld, and that he had grown up a lot in other ways, helped along by his recent, newfound lottery wealth.
“What are you working on?” Eggers asked him.
“Whatever the partner throws my way,” Herbie replied, “and she’s thrown me a very mixed bag.”
“Tell her that you’re going to be dealing with the problem of one of my clients for a few days,” Eggers said.
“Yessir.”
“We’ve chosen you for this assignment,” Eggers said, “because, among the partners and associates, you are uniquely qualified to handle it.”
Herbie shoved a bite of Dover sole into his mouth. “I think that means the client’s problem has, shall we say, unsavory aspects.”
“You are correct,” Eggers said. “Not that we feel there’s anything unsavory about you, Herbie, just that you have experience with the kind of people who are a big part of the problem.”
“I understand, I think.”
“Stone, explain things to Herbie.”
Stone explained things to Herbie. “Now, how would you handle the situation?”
“First,” Herbie said, “I’d visit the young man and impress upon him that either his life is about to change drastically for the better, or it will change drastically for the worse.”
“Good. What if he doesn’t buy what you’re selling?”
“Is the boy’s father willing for his son to take a beating by professionals?”